Oil heating and lubricating device for engine cylinders



Aug. 28, 1934. E. J. .DOYLE 1,971,976

OIL HEATING AND LUBRICATING DEVICE FOR ENGINE CYLINDERS Filed May 3,1932 Patented Aug. 28, 1934 on. HEATING AND LUBRICATING DEvIAoE FORENGINE CYLINDERS Edward J. Doyle, Boston, Mass. Application May 3, 1932,Serial No. 608,906

5 Claims.

This invention relatesto devices for lubricating the internal parts ofthe cylinders and Valves of steam engines and has particular referenceto the lubrication of the cylinders of locomotives.

The internal partso-f a locomotive cylinder are commonly lubricated byYoil which is intermittently pumped .under pressure throughan orifice orspray -head into the steam pipe .leading to the steam chest of theengine cylinder. Whileit is 10 common to heat the oil in the combinedpumpfand oil reservoir incold Weather sothat the oil vviil iiovv intothe pump, `it is-general practice to force 'the cold oil into thecylinder. While this method of lubricationis common,V it is notparticularly 'e'icient and masses of carbonized oil-Will be found in thecylinder when it is opened at the time of periodical inspection,nthereby indicating that the oil was not thoroughly atomized in thesprayhead and distributed thoroughly throughout the steam and also that anexcessive amount of oil had to be used to insure lubrication of therelatively moving surfaces and to make' up for the oil that did notreach 'these parts butwas deposited Where it could remain and becomecarbonized. Lubrica- 5 tion diilicultiesandcarbon' -formation areVparticul'arly aggravated by the use `'0f-.- highly superheated steambecause of the great diiierence between the temperature of the 'oiland-that of the steam. f 'i y' y O' I have found th at 'carbonformationcan be largely prevented-and the oil consumption reduced byheating the oilby the moving steam flowing to the 'cylindenandapproximately up to the temperature of the steam, before discharging 5the oil -throughan'- orifice into-the steam. This arrangement enablesthe oil to break` up into small particles and to become distributeduniformly throughoutthe steam and constitutes anobject of the presentinvention. f i

A further object of thevinvention is the provision of an oil injectingand heating device wherein the Vheating means for the oil is locatedWithin the steam pipe into which theA oil is sprayed and is apart of thespray head.

Another object of Vthe invention is the provision of an oil injectingand heating device that can take the place of the present spray headWithout any change in the oil piping system.-

A further object ofthe rinvention is generally to improve theconstruction and operation of engine lubricating devices.'

Fig-1 is aside elevation cina locomotive engine cylinder and alubricating system therefor -embodying the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinalfsection through the screwing the body intorthepipe.

(o1. isi-55) steam` pipe oiji'ig. 1 'and illustratingjin section the oilheating and spraying deviceembodying thepresent invention. Fig. 3 is apartial plan View ofthe spraying device of Fig. 2; Y, y y n Fig. 4 is asection taken along line.=1-4 of Fiaz. j Fig, 5 is an vend View 'of thespraying device. Ashere shown, the invention is applied to the cylinderof a locomotive; Which cylinderfreceives steam from a steam pipe 12 thatadmits the steam to a valve chest 14 'having a valve therein whichcontrols the iiow of steam into the opposite ends of the enginecylinder. Thevcylinder lubricating system includes a spray head 16 whichvviil be described in detail later and vvhich is located in the ,steampipe 12 and is connected vthrough an oil'pipe 18I yWith a terminal check20 and from the terminal check through a pipe 22 to a combined oilreservoir and pump 24. flhe reservoir and pump 24 `are more or lesscommon in the art. The pump is mechanicallyperated and at'feach strokeotits piston forces a charge of oil through the terminal check andthrough androut of the spray head at a pressurethat is greater thanthemaximum pressure of steam in Ythe steam pipe; The spray head 16 isillustrated is screw threaded into the side Wall 'of the steam 'pipe 12.

The body `26 Vis long enough toffextend through theheat insulatingpacking 30 Which en- -closes the steam pipe 12 and the outer end of thekvbody is provided With aphexagonal or other shape or vhead 32 to whicha Wrench can be applied for The body has a longitudinal oil passage 34therein which opens fintofan internally screwy threaded recess 36 in theVhead portion of the body and into which a 'coupling 38 for the pipe 18is screw threaded. `The particular manner in which the pipe 18 isconnected with the body 26 and is' placed in is preferably brazed to thebody 26 so that it is in Aeiiect integral therewith. The free end of thepipe or tubular member 421is received Within rone end kofl a shorttubular member 44 and is secured thereyto iniany suitable manner,preferably by Welding xmaterial .46.A The open remote endof thetubul'armember 44 is closed by a removable screw plug 48 which can be removedwhen desirable to inspect and clean the internal passages of the device.The inner end of the plug 48 is terminated a substantial distance fromthe end of the pipe 42, so that a chamber or passage 50 is formedbetween the confronting ends. The pipe 42 is provided with upper andlower longitudinal oil passages 52 and 54 respectively by apartitionmember or plate 56, which extends diametrically across the pipe 42 andlongitudinally thereof for the major portion of the length of the pipeand has the downwardly reflexed forward end 58 which is secured in anoil tight manner` to the lower half of the pipe 42 whereby to form anoil tight closure for the end of the lower oil passage 54. Saidpartition member 56 is preferably located in the pipe by severing thepipe longitudinally into complemental upper and lower sections,inserting the partition member between the two sections of the pipe andthen welding the sections and partition member together by theapplication of lines of welding material 60 along the jointstherebetween in the manner indicated in Fig. 4. Preferably the partitionmember 56 has less width than the outside diameter of the pipe 42 sothat there are grooves between the sections of the pipe beyond the sideedges of' the partition member that can be occupied by thewelding'material. The lower portion of the pipe yis provided with aseries of orifices 62 which are arranged at divergent angles withrespect to each other on opposite sides of the longitudinalline of thepipe 12 and communicate with the lower oil passage 54m the pipe 42 sothat oil is discharged from said orifices in different portions of theycross section of the steam pipeand atan angle to the steam flow so as toobtain good distribution of the oil throughout the cross sectional areaof the flowing steam.

The pipe 42 preferably extends diametrically across substantially theentire diameter of the steam pipe 12, or as close thereto as can beobtained in practice. Cold oil flows into the pipe through the passage34 in the body 26 and through the rupper passage 52 in the pipe andthence through the passage 50 in the enlarged tubular end member 54 andthence in the reverse direction into the lower passage 54 from which itis sprayed through the orifices 62. The oil hence is caused to .flowsubstantially across the full diameter of the pipe and thenceapproximately halfway back before being sprayed out into the steam. As aresult of this arrangement, the oil flowing in the passage 52 is heatedby the steam surroundingthe pipe and thus becomes highly heated beforeit is forced through the spray orifices. v The pump 24 is intermittentin operation and hence the oil in the passage 52 is periodically at restso that there is ample time for the oil to become highly heated. Sincethe highly heated oil is forced through the orifices under pressure, theoil becomes finely divided as it leaves the crices and thus is caused tomix thoroughly and uniformly with the flowing steam in the steam pipe.The orifices 62 are disposed to dischargethe heated oil generally in thedirection of now of the steam and hence the orifices are directed downstream with respect to the steam flow. 'Ihus the passage 52 is on theupper side of the pipe where its side wall is impinged against by thesteam and hence is in position to receive a large amount of heat fromthe steam.

The head 32 is provided with an indicating device 64 which is on thesideof the head opposite the orices and is intended to point'up stream.

Thus an installer can properly install the device in the steam pipe andan inspector can readily observe the correctness of the installation.

While it has been proposed heretofore to heat the lubricating oil priorto its introduction into the steam, so far as I am aware, the heated oilhas not been forcibly ejected into the steam under pressure through arestricted orifice and hence could not be broken down by its ownpressure into nely divided particles and distributed uniformlythroughout the flowing steam. Furthermore, the oil was not heated by theflowing steam into which the oil was discharged and hence could not beheated to the'temperature of the steam. Hence, my invention representsan improvement over the prior art.

I claim:

1. An engine cylinder lubricating device comprising a long hollow memberhaving screw threads at one end by which said member can be fixed withinthe steam pipe leading to the cylinder, said hollow member having an oilentrance and a separating plate extended longitudinally thereinproviding. two longitudinal passages connected in series and throughwhich the oil is caused to flow from said entrance in series in oppositedirections and to become heated, and'oriiices communicating with thelast passage Ithrough which heated oil is discharged from the device. Yy

2. An engine cylinder lubricating devicecomprising a pipe having lmeanssecuringA it within a duct which conducts steam to an engine cylinder,means including a partition plate'which extends lengthwise of said pipeand which separates it into, two longitudinal passages which areisolatedat one end of said pipe, a closure for the other end of said pipe whichprovides a communicating chamber between said passages, and means foradmitting oil into the end of said pipe opposite said ,closure andintoone of said passages; said pipe having orilices through its side wallwhich communicate with said other passage and through which oil heatedin its traverse of said passages is discharged into the steam duct.

3. An engineA cylinder lubricating device comprising a pipe having meanssecuring it Within a duct which conducts steam to an engine cylinder,said pipe having two complemental longitudinal sections, a partitionplate located between said sections which separates said pipe into twolongitudinal oil passages which are isolated at one end of said pipe, atubular member on the other end of said pipe having a removable closuretherefor which Ais spaced from the end of said pipe and provides aconnecting chamber` between said passages, one of said pipe sectionshaving orifices through its side wall and disposed along the lengththereof, and means to introduce oil into said pipe and one of saidpassages to traverse said passages in succession to said orifices.

4. An engine cylinder lubricating device comprising a body member havingan oil passage therethrough, means at one end thereof for connectionwith the duct which conducts steam to an engine cylinder, and a tubeextended beyond p through which the oil in said last passage isdischarged into the steam duct.

5. An engine cylinder lubricating device for injecting into the cylindersteam pipe, oil heated by the steam in said pipe, said device havingmeans providing an oil duct having an entrance and outgoing and returnsections, each outside the other, each separately having a Wall exposed

